Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1887-04-15
A BIuGlGaPd in wisconsin.
A BELGIAN's. STRANGE MARITAL
RELATIONS LEAD TO HIS ARREST.

A BELGIAN's. STRANGE MARITAL
RELATIONS LEAD TO HIS ARREST
A telegram from Green Bay,
Wis, April 4, says: The authori'
ties of this county have in their
c;~tody a man named Jean Philip
I,oons, Belgian by birth, bpt . !
bopucl' "---.''''s'-- -, ..--.,'' =" /
farmer who has lived IN the town
of Preble for many years, whom |
they will attempt to prove guilty |
OF murder of at least one OF the |
three wives who have lived with |
him in the last 16 years. One day !
about 10 years ago he visited a
n neighbor, and said his wife had
fallen down stairs and broken her
neck. An examination OF her re-
mains showed that she received
severe bruises. and, as her body |
lay at the foot of a stairway and
the neck was evidently broken, his
story was accepted, and nothing
more was thought of the matter.
A year or two later he married
again, and in the course of time 1t
was noticed that he was paying
much attention to the wife of a
neighbOr named August Mainsart.
When tins intimacy had reached a
point which caused Il neighbOrhOod
scandal Mainsart died suddenly,
and few days later the second
Mrs. Loquet died in the same way.
Neither had medical attendance.-
Soon after the funerals LOQueC and
Mrs. Mainsart were married, and
lived together for some time with
out trouble. The tradition that
there was something mysterious
about the death of their former
companions survived, and at length
warrant was issued for Mrs.
Loquet No. 3, charging her with
the murder of her first husband,
Mainsart. The remains Of the
latter were exhumed, and a chemist
reported that there was enough
arsenic in the digestive organs 10
kill dozen men; but, in spite of
this. the woman was not brought
TO trial. as there was no evidence
connecting her with the crime Of
administering the drug, and it
could not be learned that she
had purchased any of it in the
neighbOrhOOd.
Last year Loquet and his third
wife quarreIed and separated, and
she brought a suit for divorce.
alleging cruelty. After having
with drawn three such suits, she
finally went to trial on the fourth,
| and obtained a decree. The county
authorities then made mp their
minds that she might be used as 4
witness against Loquet, AMI she
was, accordingly, interviewed on
several occasions as to her knOwl-
edge of the poisoning Of Mrs.
Loquet No. >. What she was
willing to do has not been devel-
oped, but it is known that when
the officers went to eXhume the
body of the woman the grave was
found to be empty, and no one but
Loquet now knows where the re-
mains are. His divorced wife at
one time intimated that they had
been moved several times by Lo-
uuet, who was determined that the
authorities should not find them.
While the officers were endeavor-
ing to make out case against
Loquet, his divorced wife diSap-
peared In January last, and since
then no trace Of her has been
found. Her friends believe that
she, too, was murdered, and they, in
company with the officers, have
searched every foot OF the country
tor miles around the place where
she formerly lived. As soon as the
divorced wife disappeared, Loquet
was taken into custody, and has
been in Jail here ever since. The
authorities are almost bailled by
the mystery surrounding the case,
and the utter absence OF proof OF
every kind, but they have on hand
an uncommon criminal.